Don't Break the Bank- How to Find a Budget-friendly Food Truck POS System

What is a POS System?

Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to set up a new food business, or a veteran restaurant owner planning to expand, running a food truck business can be a smart play. Like any brick-and-mortar restaurant, it requires a great deal of administrative, management, and marketing skills. Like any brick-and-mortar restaurant, a food truck also needs a modern point of sale or POS system to achieve maximum output. A point of sale system is a suite of hardware and software that enables your business to produce that output.

A POS system collects and streamlines payments. Whenever a customer makes a purchase, the transaction ends at the POS point. The POS System is therefore known as the endpoint of the purchase process. But that's not all a POS system does. The modern point of sale system is a hub. It manages not just sales and payments, but customer data, employee performance, and inventory at a food truck.

Essential POS Features for a Food Truck

You may have heard of POS systems for restaurants. But, what exactly is a food truck POS system? Food truck POS consists of hardware and software specially adapted for a food truck. It records orders, manages payment processing, combines sales-related analytics, and inventory management.

POS systems for food trucks are mobile-friendly, which means their software can be accessed on mobile devices. A POS system for a food truck helps an operator process orders with accuracy and speed, enabling them to take multiple orders in short time, and process them without a glitch.

Food trucks are constantly on the go. Moreover, they're in the business of quick service and affordable pricing. This makes flexibility, mobility, and cost the key features of a food truck POS system. A food truck POS system requires software that works well even in a no-internet zones. The right POS system for your food truck will have a good interface that allows quick menu changes and customization. A food truck POS system helps truck operators manage inventory, as stocking up on recipe ingredients is of paramount importance.

Here's a rundown of the essential features of a food truck POS system-

• Billing Program
  
• Real-time reports
  
• Online ordering & payments
  
• Integrated CRM
  
• Instant invoice generation
  

The food truck business can be a highway to hell without the right management tools.

A food truck POS system helps you step on the pedal without burning out. This article shows you how.

Download now!

How to Shop for the Right Point of Sale Software for Your Food Truck

Purchasing the right food truck for your business is vital. Before investing in a food truck POS system, however, it's important to keep a few things in mind. A POS system contains both hardware and software components. It's important to make sure both meet your food truck's needs.

POS software is the digital platform that runs the system. It can be a computer program or a mobile app. In other words, what you see on the screen of a POS system is the software. POS softwarefeatures includeinventory management, e-receipts, CRM, and payment processing.

Let's delve deep into the main features of a Food truck POS.

1. Mobile & cord-free
The POS system should run on a phone or a tablet that connects to the internet with just a cellular connection. It should also be able to connect to a printer wirelessly.

2. Order management
You can print orders quickly and have the order history saved. This helps you review items that need to be prepared first.

3. Discounts and offers
Your food truck POS system should enable you to improve sales through offers and discounts. Be it a new menu, or partnering with a local food truck festival, try to give out special offers and discounts through your food truck Pos System.

4. Menu management
You should be able to make changes to the menu and adjustments to the price in no time. Such food truck POS features work wonders with customers.

5. EMV security
Transaction security is important to earn your customer's trust. Make sure your food truck POS system protects credit card data using EMV authentication and encryption technology.

6. Sync orders on all devices
Syncing all your terminals or devices in real-time helps you stay on top of the game, even during rush hour. It enables you to change the order from any device and automatically share it with other users.

How Can a Good POS Boost Your Food Truck Business?

A good POS system halves the work of running a food truck business. The key benefits of a food truck are that it's mobile and easy to move from one place to another, going to where the crowds are. To stay ahead in the game, a food truck business needs to invest in a Pos System.

A POS system streamlines and simplifies the business, generates reports on inventory, sales, and builds a customer database. Besides, it organizes account statements, and manage order optimization and scheduling. The business intelligence reports of a POS system help design optimized menus for higher profit.

Here are 5 benefits of investing in the right food truck POS-

1. Time management & sales boost
The customers who eat at food trucks do not want to waste too much time on ordering and waiting. In such situations, a food truck Point Sale system is of great use. It speeds up the work of a food truck owner. An automated solution is reliable and also reduces customer wait time. A shorter wait time generates more customers and eventually, more sales.

2. Flexible payment options
A customer is relieved when the seller offers diverse payment options. Food truck owners who accept debit cards, credit cards, e-wallets, and Apple and Android phone payments have a better edge over others. Customers will be delighted with these convenient options and it helps the seller build a loyal following.

3. Instant invoice generation
Customers wish to receive invoices and bills quickly to save time. The feature-rich food truck POS system helps an operator generate bills for customers without any glitches. The more sophisticated POS systems can even send these invoices directly to the customer's phone or email.

4. Employee Management
A food truck owner goes through a series of hectic and tedious tasks daily. They don't have time to keep track of the punch-in, punch-out, and overtime of employees. A food truck POS system, with its sophisticated features, helps them monitor these tasks. It streamlines work allocation, keeps labor costs low, increases productivity, and in turn, boosts sales.

5. Other perks
Food truck POS systems also offer a host of other benefits.

• Adaptability and scalability as sales improve.
• Ease of use and mobility.
  
• Selection of right marketing channels.
  
• Options for online ordering, even before the customer reaches the food truck.
  

5 Great Food Truck POS Systems to Choose From

Can you run a food truck without a Point of Sale system? If you have no intentions of scaling updefinitely yes! But if you are a truck owner who likes to innovate and experiment with new technologies, a POS system is a must. The best POS system should ideally accept credit, contactless, and mobile payments, increase the speed of service, and ultimately boost sales.

We've broken down the six Best Onlinefood truck POS systems with the highest popularity and perks that suit your physical, technological, and financial needs.

PlumPOS
PlumPOS offers the complete package among food truck POS systems. The PlumPOS system efficiently manages orders, processes payments, tracks inventory, and provides complete real-time reporting. PlumPOS is designed in such a way that the food truck staff can spend less time on their screens and more time engaging with customers. This all-in-one point of sale boosts your business and provides an overall better customer experience. Plumpos is available on the Hubworks platform. Hubworks is a business management app store that has apps for specialized restaurant functions, including workforce management, food management, scheduling, employee timekeeping, reporting, supply chain, and food safety compliance. A customer can buy individual apps from Hubworks, like PlumPOS, and link it to any other integration with the help of their connecting software, AnyConnector.

Square
Square is a food truck POS solution that helps you take orders from customers at your window, inline or online. The Square card reader is portable, allowing you to accept payments without any hassle. Its mobility feature is a hit with customers. All Square POS accounts come with a free mobile card reader that is plugged into your device, helping you accept swiped payments.

Revel
In addition to basic POS system features, Revel is loaded with inventory tracking, which helps manage stocks by ingredients. It also offers great employee management and analytics. Revel has several third-party integrations, with QuickBooks, Twitter, and others. It also has an offline mode and unlimited data storage.

Toast- Toast POS runs on both, Android and iOS platforms. Toast POS uses restaurant-grade hardware. It also has features like ordering through handheld tablets or countertop terminals, time tracking, easy tipping, kiosk mode, loyalty programs, advanced reporting, and online ordering.

TouchBistro- TouchBistro contains features like a digital display board and kitchen display system. It also has a self-serve kiosk. TouchBistro accepts all kinds of payments, from gift cards to mobile payments. Ordering is also hassle-free, as it's done through third-party integrations and a kiosk mode, which allows customers to place their order on a tablet.

Clover- If you are new to the POS system, Clover might be the right choice for you. It is accessible from a dashboard, mobile app, or virtual terminal. All its purchases are secure and trackable. Its other features include employee and customer management, and integrations through the Clover App Market.

It’s expensive setting up a food truck, without the added expense of a pricey Point of Sale system

Get the Food Truck POS system you need without draining your coffers. Here’s how. . .

Download now!

Food Truck POS Pricing

The right POS system for food trucks helps you to do everything, from running financial reports and analytics, to processing coupons. But selecting the right one depends on various factors. Among them is pricing.

There's no need to break the bank to get a food truck POS. There are POS systems that are available in the range of $0 to $69 per month.
Here's a look at the pricing options for some of the best food truck POS systems.

Plum POS
Plum Pos is a powerful and innovative Point Sale system that seamlessly integrates with your food truck business. PlumPOS offers flexible pricing options. If you need a single point of sale register for small restaurants, food trucks, or kiosks, opt for the Essential Station bundle, priced at $1716. If you need two POS registers for a mid-sized restaurant, you can select the Pro Station Bundle at $3505. For larger restaurants, there are customized options starting at $3505. With the customized option, you can select unlimited Plum stations.

Square
The Square POS system offers a free version of their software for a single location. Square Plus costs $60 per month per location. Square also sells its own hardware. You can alternatively use your Android or iOS device. Square hardware starts from $299 for a handheld device, to a full-feature terminal priced at $799. They have separate in-person transaction payment processing costs for their free and Plus versions.

Revel
Revel packages start at $99/month per terminal. It requires a three-year contract and a minimum purchase of two terminals. The hardware and payment processing costs are quotation-based.

Toast
Toast's starter plan begins at $0 a month. In its starter package, the POS software, payment processing, reporting analytics, and menu management are free. The essentials package starts at $165 per month and provides additional features like hardware and online ordering and delivery, and the Toast takeout app.

TouchBistro
The basic plan for Touch Bistro is priced at $69/month. TouchBistro needs an iPad to run its software. Ipads, routers, printers, cash drawers, and other accessories are available by quote. There is also a payment processing cost, which depends on the payment processor.

Clover
Clover's basic plan starts at $49/month. It has no monthly fee for the first 30 days. Clover also has other plans ranging from $49 to $1349 per month. These could include a handheld POS system, compact countertop POS system, or full countertop system, depending on the price range.

POS System FAQs

1. Do you need an industry-specific POS system?

Not necessarily. Ask yourself what features you need and decide accordingly. Be it for a small business or large one, there are industry-specific systems available for every size of operation. Some provide customer loyalty programs, while others offer faster credit card authorization over the internet. Choose according to your needs.

2. Will the POS system work if the server stops?
Yes. POS software has an offline mode and will work without even during a server interruption. When the connection is reestablished, the data is uploaded back to the system's memory.

3. Will the POS system work on Android & iOS?
Most mobile POS systems works on both, Android and iOS platforms. It helps turn your tablet or smartphone into a virtual terminal, enabling you to accept payments wherever the food truck goes.

You’ve just started a food truck and you need a POS system, but you’re worried you can’t afford one.

There are plenty of food truck POS systems for all kinds of budgets. This article will help you find what’s best for you.

Download now!